Friends are Always First
by KorayDen
Summary: How the Marauders confront Remus with his "furry little problem" and possibly other random bits in history of Remus and friends. Gonna make it rated teen just in case but I don't really like cussing all that much but not sure where I'm going with this.
1. Chapter 1

Friends are Always First

Disclaimer: I don't own these people, Miss J. K. Rowling does. If I owned them then I wouldn't have ended the books with a dead Sirius and Remus, and Draco and Harry would be having an affair with each other! I am not sure if I am going to make this only be up to when they figure out he is a werewolf or if I'll continue it to include random little points in made up history where they put each other first over some serious problem. Enjoy!

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><p>It was the third month of their second year at Hogwarts, full moon a week away. Professor McGonagall called Remus Lupin into her office for a private conversation. Remus gave the other Marauders an apologetic look as he got up from the table, where he was helping them with homework, and headed to the office door. The office was the same grey bricks and old wooden flooring as the rest of the castle but she had shelves of books up and a few pictures of her favorite students decorating the wall. McGonagall sat down behind her desk and motioned for Remus to have a seat, which he complied. Her stern gaze fell on him and then softened.<p>

"I'm afraid I have some very bad news for you," she began. Remus gripped his seat, fearing she would say he is being expelled. "This afternoon your mother passed away." Remus gasped in air as tears threatened to roll. "They will be holding the funeral this weekend and we are giving you special permission to go along, with staying till Monday for the full moon. We also will understand any slip in your work this week and, though we expect your work to be turned in, a few of the teachers have agreed to set up make-up work for when you feel better. Now you may return to your friends." McGonagall got up, rested a comforting hand on Remus' shoulder, and sat back down as Remus left.

Remus, though struggling hard, went back to helping his friends do their homework. 'Of course they wouldn't notice my eyes watering or me not being completely here. It's not like they're real friends, they are, after all, just after my homework. Oh mother, you looked so healthy last time I saw you. What changed in your condition after I left for school? The doctors said you were making a comeback that they hadn't expected.' While Remus was caught in his mind, his friends started noticing his glazed over eyes. "James," Sirius whispered, responded by a low grunt. "What do you think Minnie said to him?" James shrugged, scribbling nonchalantly on his parchment. Sirius huffed at the lack of James' interest.

...

As the boys climbed the stairs and into their room Sirius had a sudden idea to tackle Remus. In a motion too fast for Remus to notice till it was too late, Sirius landed into Remus and toppled them over and to the ground. Sirius barked out laughter till he realized Remus was now sobbing. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Sirius rushed out the words as he scrambled to Remus. "I didn't mean to hurt you!" He tried to reach out and comfort Remus but the scrawny boy jerked away and ran for his bed. James made his way for the bed, Sirius too stunned to move, but was blocked as the curtains were drawn and Remus shouted "Leave me alone!" Any attempts to get through would probably be met with a curse.

They had all sat themselves right outside Remus' bedpost, waiting for him to come out and either explain or say he was joking, but long ago James and Peter had given up and gone to bed. The clock was clicking close to 2 a.m. but still Sirius sat, waiting like an obedient dog for Remus to open the curtain and let him in. Finally, when it was 2:30, Remus cracked open the curtain and peered out. "What are you doing?" a hoarse voice spoke from behind the crimson curtain.  
>"Waiting for you to talk to me," Sirius' voice was nearly as hoarse from sitting silently for so long.<br>"Are you going to keep waiting (Remus tried to clear his throat) if I don't let you in?" Sirius nodded vigorously. Remus sighed and drew open the curtains more for Sirius to come in and then shut them after the boy made himself comfortable on the bed. Tears started down Remus' cheeks again and he pulled himself onto the bed and sat next to Sirius. Fluidly, Sirius wrapped an arm around Remus and pulled him over for a comforting hug. "Wanna tell me what is wrong with you?" Sirius asked in a hushed tone. Silence filled the room except for the occasional sniffle and choked sob. Sirius rocked Remus slightly to show his impatience of wanting to know what was wrong.  
>"My mom…" Remus started. Sirius gave him a look that seemed to say 'this story again' but quickly got replaced with one of sympathy.<br>"Is she sick again? Are you going to have to go home and take care of her?" Remus began crying harder now and Sirius jumped with surprise. Holding Remus close he rocked the boy slightly in an attempt to calm him. Sirius literally had no clue how to comfort and could only think of how babies were shushed to sleep.  
>"Sh-sh…she died…" Remus finished his sentence and rolled back into more tears. "The doc (hacking sound) doctor said she-she be be fine…but but but she could-couldn't make it."<br>"Uh uh uh…shh shh. Uuuuh…there there." Sirius was patting his dear friend's back, wishing James was awake to help. "It'll…um…I don't know what to say…just…erm…be okay Remus, we're here for you. I'm sure James would be sooo much better at this…even Peter could do this comfort thing." Remus gave a small chuckle as the black haired boy continued to ramble to himself about not knowing how to help. Soon the sobbing quieted down and was replaced by light snores. "Ah, crap," Sirius muttered as he realized Remus had taken his legs as a pillow. "Now I'm stuck here."

...

The next morning James woke up and tried to sneak over and check on Remus, only to find his best mate and dear friend sharing a bed. "I'm guessing I should let y'all two be, ya little love birds," James joked.  
>"Shut up and help me. I've been stuck here all night 'cause he fell asleep on me," Sirius grumbled.<br>"Shouldn't have given him such a good time," James continued his jokes as he lifted up Remus' head gently. Sirius slithered out and pushed a pillow to where his legs had been so Remus wouldn't notice the difference.  
>"I'm just glad he got to sleep; I had no clue what I was doing." Sirius grumbled some more. "I wish you had been there 'cause I might've made things worse."<br>"So, what was that (waving his hand) thing all about?"  
>"His…mom died," Sirius exchanged a look with James. "And by his actions I think he means it this time, unlike with his bazillion relatives."<br>"That's really bad. Let's go get him a cake?"  
>"Yeah!"<p>

...

Remus sat on the train to home, just after having to push Sirius off it ("But I want to go!" He had shouted) and now everything was settling down and giving Remus some thinking time. The Marauders had showered him in gifts of chocolate anything they could find since Monday morning and they had not given Remus a moment alone. 'They are really good friends when they want to be. Sirius should never be in charge of being a comfort giver.' Remus chuckled as he remembered Sirius rocking him as he muttered to himself about being clueless. 'Mum would hold me like that after full moons and call me her little hurt puppy because I was a right mess afterwards but she'd fix me up.' Again, Remus started crying uncontrollably; remembering everything about his mom kept stirring the pot of tears. 'Why my mum! She was so nice to me…'


	2. Chapter 2

Words go here: blah, blah, blah, J. K. Rowling owns my soul I mean Harry Potter people. Second half of this story! They actually approach Remus today! Man, I feel like I'm some kinda depressed writer 'cause I made such a sad reason for why they ask him.

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><p><em>Dear Sirius, James, and Peter,<em>

_Thanks for sending me more chocolate but please stop; my family is not too happy about all the owls flying through. The funeral is Sunday and I shall be back Monday around lunch time so please take notes for me this time. Sirius: I do not appreciate you asking if I gained any of her stuff. James: I will try to find your hat from when you visited over the summer. Peter: No, the family is not staying with father and I so it is not crowded in the house. I will tell everyone you all said hi._

_Your friend,  
>Remus Lupin<em>

Remus took a deep breath as he made his way to the owl cage. 'I know they mean well by it but I wish they wouldn't make jokes. I probably wouldn't mind if they were here. Man, do I wish they were here. Everything is better when all the Marauders were together.' Then Remus was reminded of the full moon coming up tomorrow night. 'Okay, I need sleep. First thing in the morning is the funeral and then I have a wolf to deal with.'

….

The funeral seemed so short and Remus received no comfort from his family; not even his dad came near him. It was so lonely at the funeral and all the tears made him feel worse. 'It's not my fault I'm a monster! It's that stupid man's fault for making Greyback mad. Mum's funeral would not be so hard to handle if someone would just comfort me too.' Remus looked around at all his relatives holding each other. The only comforter in his life lay in a casket that would soon be underground. Tears came down slowly but no one noticed.

….

That full moon had been the worse since the first time he had ever transformed. Huge gashes covered his body and teeth marks dug deep into his arms. If his father had not taught to check on him, Remus would have bled to death. After being patched up he was sent straight back to Hogwarts by a portkey so he could get better treatment. Madam Pomfrey freighted over him as he lay perfectly still in the bed. The claw marks across his face were not fading, despite the nurses attempts, nor was the scars on his chest.

By night time Remus finally was released from the Hospital Wing and instructed to rest the next two days. Nodding in agreement, but not actually planning to listen, Remus muttered a good night and made way for his dorm. The boys were still awake and waiting for Remus' return. Excited, they all ran to tackle Remus but stop short at the sight of the scars on his face. Sirius was the first to speak. "Do you need to tell us something?" Concern dripped like honey in his tone.  
>"Did you do this to yourself?" James sounded panicky. Remus figured they were worried he was suicidal.<br>"Look, I'm fine. I need to get some rest is all," Remus pushed past them and went to his bed. Sirius was about to march himself to the bed and tell Remus off for brushing them off but James stopped him.

…..

"I'm worried about him!" Sirius exclaimed at breakfast. Remus didn't wake up that morning despite the three boys' tries. "I think we should tell him we know. It'll take some stress off him. Going through that with all that stress must be killing him."  
>"Yeah…that is probably why he's cutting himself." James talked in a solemn tone. Peter shifted in his seat uncomfortably.<br>"Let's get to class. We'll have to take notes again," Peter murmured to his waffles. Sirius and James agreed; neither felt too hungry anyways.

Mr. Binns droned on about some war that none of the students cared about and all knew could look up later. In the back though, Sirius and James were diligently taking note for Remus. Peter had fallen asleep and Sirius was getting close to joining him. Remus somehow had slithered into the classroom right then. James slid his paper to Remus and then passed out. Sirius resolved to stay awake with Remus but not to take notes. Instead Sirius started doodling on his parchment and would scoot it into Remus' eyesight. When Remus would smile at it Sirius snatched back the parchment and drew something else.

Classes seemed to drag on for what seemed like an eternity. Sirius kept pointing this out every. Single. Class. James and Peter laughed about it but it was like pulling on a tight string in Remus' case. Any minute it was going to break and Remus felt like he was going to strangle the boy. To his surprise, and delight, Sirius pushed a bar of Honey Duke's chocolate under Remus' nose. "Sorry for annoying you." Is what Sirius was saying through his offering. It felt like everything had returned to normal for Remus. The same annoying Sirius being obnoxious; James showing off to Lily Evans; Peter trying desperately not to explode the animal they were transfiguring. Remus let out a sigh of relief, knowing everything was fine here.

…..

Homework was a beast to get through, along with the make-up work. James and Sirius tried their best to help out but Remus found it easier to just to do it himself. Off in a corner you could find Remus writing diligently on his parchment for the essay due in DADA. Across the room, the other three sat, whispering to each other.  
>"Right now he is working so I guess we'll have to get him when we go to bed," James tried to keep his voice as quiet as possible.<br>"But but! It might help if he isn't worrying about it anymore," Sirius interjected.  
>"He is trying to get over his mother's death. I'm more than positive the homework is helping his stress," James crossed his arms. "You just want to tell him. Tsk tsk."<br>"Sirius, he won't be long. Have some patience," Peter took James' side.  
>"Fine!" Sirius huffed.<p>

Remus sensed something had changed in the room. The mood seemed to have shifted and Sirius kept giving him weird looks. When they had gone to the room Sirius gave some more strange behavior. He checked all the beds and nodded at James, who proceeded to lock the door. Remus scrunched together his eyebrows. "Are you guys planning a prank?" Remus asked. James shook his head. Remus sat down on his bed and gave them all a questioning look. "What's up?" Sirius stepped forward but didn't say anything; lost in the words he was trying to pick.  
>"We know with your mother's death and school you must be super stressed. No one goes through what you do," Sirius began.<br>"I'm sure there are quite a few people that lose a close family member and I know a bunch of kids go to school. Nothing special really about my case," Remus said slowly. 'Except I'm a werewolf.' Sirius huffed and looked to James; nodded for him to try.  
>"Sirius is trying to say, for once he is being polite, is that we know you are a werewolf," James jumbled out his words all at once. Fear struck Remus and his face went deadly white. 'Mum…I just lost my only friends.'<br>"Aren't you great friends!" Remus exploded. "I just lost my mum and now you are abandoning me! Guess I should ask Frank if anyone would like to switch from his room. No one-"  
>"What are you saying?" Sirius' voice felt like a whip.<br>"No one wants to be friends with a werewolf so I'll get out of your hairs. Just don't tell anyone." Remus was getting up to start packing.  
>"No, no, no. None of that Moony." Remus paused at Sirius' nickname for him. "We didn't say you could leave."<br>"Nor did we say we wanted you to," squeaked Peter.  
>"We've actually known since the end of last year," James spoke up.<br>"We just figured you'd tell us when you were ready," Sirius put an arm around Remus' shoulder. Remus just stared up at them, dumbfounded. "The only reason we confronted you was because you looked really stressed out."  
>"And you hurt yourself worse than usual this time," Peter piped in again.<br>"Yeah, that. We just wanted to take some stress off you so the mean wolfie wouldn't take so much outta ya." Remus started crying. Sirius panicked as the boy cried into his hands; pleading eyes directed at James. James pulled Remus close and patted his back.  
>"Are you okay?" James asked in a soothing voice.<br>"I'm…I'm so happy you don't want to leave me," Remus managed to get out.  
>"Well, duh! Friends are always first on our list! Couldn't get anywhere without them." Sirius laughed his barking laugh and Remus felt so much joy pass through him. He was so happy to have these three as his best friends.<p> 


End file.
